The Best American Sports Writing 2019

August 26, 2019
In this excellent edition, series editor Stout posits, with tongue in cheek, that journalism’s wobbly future will necessitate a switch to “Paylance”—writers will pay to get published. Esquire writer Pierce (Idiot America), who has expertly covered politics and sports for decades, laments the demise of a lost art. Fortunately, those conditions do not prevent another outstanding collection from being assembled. This great mix of essays shines a spotlight on all aspects of the human condition, whether it’s in a New York Magazine piece by Kerry Howley on how meek physician Larry Nassar engendered trust among the parents of the female gymnasts he sexually assaulted for years, or how California inmate Artis Monroe found happiness by giving old bicycles new life in Kim Cross’s essay for Bicycling. The volume also includes several funny and irreverent essays, such as GQ’s Caity Weaver’s scavenger hunt in Minnesota’s U.S. Bank Stadium, related in “My Magical Quest to Destroy Tom Brady and Win a Philadelphia Eagles Mini-Fridge at Super Bowl LII.” The quality of the writing and diversity of the subjects will delight readers and inspire and enlighten the next generation of writers.

September 1, 2019
The latest volume in this first-rate series reflects not just the interests of guest-editor Pierce?who has reported on sports, politics, and the media for Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Slate?but also, more pointedly, the social issues that have pushed their way into so many facets of American life. A fine Boston Globe profile of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez exposes a childhood of physical abuse and homophobia at the core of his conviction for murder and his subsequent suicide. There is Kerry Howley's New York magazine piece on just how USA Gymnastics trainer Larry Nassar, sentenced to 40-175 years for the sexual assault of minors under his care, could conduct his crimes so brazenly, and for so long. Tim Leyden's SI story on former sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who together famously raised their gloved fists in black-power protest on the medal stand at the 1968 Summer Olympics, shows the terrible price African Americans can pay simply to express themselves, and the tone deafness of an American society to which they speak. As ever, a must for the sports collection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)